I loved writing my first two books. I loved everything about them, I knew the characters inside out and upside down, I felt connections with each and every one of them. The settings gave me a buzz, the stories seemed to just write themselves and it all just felt so alive! Nothing felt arduous about it (except getting time to write them ha!). But they've never been successful.

The later books I'm current writing is more 'to market', and I have to say that I'm not enjoying it as much. It feels like I've got to create and mould these characters whereas my other ones seemed to just appear in my mind, all fleshed out. It seems to be work, rather than fun and engaging.

Does it get easier? Has anyone else had experience of this? Writing what you love vs writing to market? Is what you love already the market? If so, lucky you! ha!

It's just a thought I was having and wanted to see what others had experienced in their writing lives.

EDITED: I was just scrolling through it again--ah, the memories--and noticed you were one of the first commenters Well anyway, I still think it's a good thread to link to here, even if it does more to contextualize than to answer your current question. And it's always a good read

I write what I love to read, which just happens to have a big market. I don't think there's a problem writing for love as long as you're realistic with the money aspects. If you want to make a lot of money, you're probably going to have to write to market. If you want to write simply for the joy and understand that money won't follow, go for it. I think everyone should do what they want to do as long as it doesn't hurt others.

I loved writing my first two books. I loved everything about them, I knew the characters inside out and upside down, I felt connections with each and every one of them. The settings gave me a buzz, the stories seemed to just write themselves and it all just felt so alive! Nothing felt arduous about it (except getting time to write them ha!). But they've never been successful.

But you've only got two books out so far. And many readers don't like to buy into a series until there are 3+ books out (or until it's complete).

I know some people are successful right away, but most take a few books. I'd at least complete the series before judging.

FWIW, my first series isn't doing amazingly well (no advertising yet but also I think it's a bit off-niche, along with some other issues). I'm planning to finish it anyway.

You have 17 great reviews on the US side of things for your first book. The second one seems a bit more troubling, but there's some good feedback there possibly and one clamoring for book 3. Seems like the stories are likable to me from reading the blurbs. Maybe you just didn't find the right audience for these yet? Dunno but I'd be leery of writing something I wasn't excited about. That sounds like a recipe for mediocrity and burnout.

I write what I love to read, which just happens to have a big market. I don't think there's a problem writing for love as long as you're realistic with the money aspects. If you want to make a lot of money, you're probably going to have to write to market. If you want to write simply for the joy and understand that money won't follow, go for it.

I'm fortunate enough to be in this position, too.

To the OP, if you feel the need to choose between love or market, it's helpful to recognize the reason(s) you're writing. If your efforts are inconsistent with your goals (i.e. your "why"), you'll constantly face mental resistance. Writing will become an unsustainable grind.

EDITED: I was just scrolling through it again--ah, the memories--and noticed you were one of the first commenters Well anyway, I still think it's a good thread to link to here, even if it does more to contextualize than to answer your current question. And it's always a good read

While my goals are not money in the sense of the millions and I *do* want to write what I love, more than anything I'd love to be able to find my success that way, I am finding that no matter how much I put into marketing the sales or even FREE downloads are never much. So the books aren't hitting any sort of established market.

As I said, I would like to be able to make a living on it. I'd be happy with simply making a few thousand a month, BUT I am out of money in order to do things for my books. I have reduced my teaching hours of my day job to 50% in order to actually have writing time (working 50-70 hours a week on the day job meant no time or energy to write) so I think I'm going to have to channel the late, great, Alan Rickman. A few Mass-market projects to write what I want!

I was just wondering of the people who write to market; is it because they want money, or do they do it so they can also write what they love, or are they fortunate enough that the market is currently what they love anyway?

I love my genre (romance), not so much the trends within it. I write what I want and earn a living. Maybe I'd be pulling seven figures a year if I wrote billionaire alphahole BDSM bad boy biker stepbrother menage series, but I don't have enough materialism to make it worthwhile to hate my job. (Not a dig at any of those components or writers/readers thereof, but I would rather devote months of my life to working on other things.)

I'm coming out of trad pub, so everything is relative to me. I get four times more money per sale self-pubbing, so I can afford for my appeal to be less broad and write characters/circumstances that interest me and keep me happy instead of this week's hot thing. (Plus, I'm slow and couldn't keep up with the market if I wanted to.)

The last time I hated writing (see "trad pub"), I quit for several years. When I figured out it was publishing I hated, not writing (I love writing! Writing is the best!), I promised myself I was not going to compromise my writing principles again. That might be a lesson someone has to learn from experience, but if you can avoid getting to the point where you're miserable enough to quit, I strongly recommend avoiding that point. Writing for yourself and getting your work in front of readers who value what you have to offer will keep you happier longer than writing things you don't care about.

Plus, if you're "successful" writing something you don't want to write, that's what readers will expect from you forever. You'll have built a fan base that's not interested in the kind of books you want to write. It's easier to start as you mean to continue and build a brand you want to sustain.

This is a long-haul business. Success lies in longevity, which is hard to pull off if you hate what you're doing.

See, I want this. I want to believe it (even if money money money isn't my motivator. Simply money is good enough for me! hahaha!), but this year all I've heard from author friends are they've switched to market and are now killing it.

BAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA! YES! This is all I see at the moment in the 'romance' cat. People seem to think that HEA means Romance, but to me romance is so much more! Probably why I don't fit. I write men I'd want to fall for, not the ones I wouldn't. I write good guys, who might be a bit grumpy, or slightly jaded by life at first, but nothing to extremes.

The last time I hated writing (see "trad pub"), I quit for several years. When I figured out it was publishing I hated, not writing (I love writing! Writing is the best!), I promised myself I was not going to compromise my writing principles again. That might be a lesson someone has to learn from experience, but if you can avoid getting to the point where you're miserable enough to quit, I strongly recommend avoiding that point. Writing for yourself and getting your work in front of readers who value what you have to offer will keep you happier longer than writing things you don't care about.

Thank you for being so open and honest. I hate that you were miserable in your original endeavour. I'm miserable in day job, but I have to pay the bills until I find something that clicks.

I think I might shelve my 'market' book and go and finish my 'love' book first

I think I might shelve my 'market' book and go and finish my 'love' book first

That sounds like the sensible plan. Lots of people say their series didn't take off until the third book. And I wouldn't necessarily go by what you see in the 'top' spots on romance- it's a HUGE genre, with an equally huge number of subgenres. Plenty of people who don't show up in Amazon's top spots are making good livings off of it. I always think your chances of connecting with the market are much better if you're writing things you're excited about. If nothing else, loving what you write will probably keep you writing- which is always the best recipe for long term success.

I write what interests me. My books are all over the place, but they all have the theme that working together and putting aside differences make things better. Sometimes in fairytale/fantasy, sometimes in romances, sometimes in suspense. Even our series for Halloween has two cousins trying to live together and put aside their differences to understand their heritage.

If a story idea seems like it would be fun to write...I do it. Next spring, I'm planning a series of mysteries (not exactly cozies) in the PNW. And a historical romance series in the early 1900s around Spokane. I like both ideas, so hopefully the readers will, too.

BAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA! YES! This is all I see at the moment in the 'romance' cat. People seem to think that HEA means Romance, but to me romance is so much more! Probably why I don't fit. I write men I'd want to fall for, not the ones I wouldn't. I write good guys, who might be a bit grumpy, or slightly jaded by life at first, but nothing to extremes.

This. There's a lot of bad boys and angst and more sex than story burning up the charts. It's tempting to think it's the only way to be successful in romance.

My guys/stories just aren't those things. But then, Rosalind James (good guys, not angsty) and JA Huss (twisty plots, interesting characters) don't write to those parameters either and they're doing more than OK with their books. (Understatement of the year.)

So there is an audience out there. You just have to find yours. And that's the hard part, I guess.

See, I want this. I want to believe it (even if money money money isn't my motivator. Simply money is good enough for me! hahaha!), but this year all I've heard from author friends are they've switched to market and are now killing it.

I think it's useful to remember that we are trying to do two different things at once. First, we're trying to write something that resonates within us--that gives us a sense of satisfaction. Second, we're trying to entertain other people. They don't care so much about the process of writing and whether we find it meaningful. They just want a good story.It is possible to attain both goals at the same time but it takes some thought. You have to find a story interesting to you that will also be interesting to lots of other people. It's worth taking considerable time to figure out such a story because you're going to be working on it for quite a while. Good luck!

I think it's useful to remember that we are trying to do two different things at once. First, we're trying to write something that resonates within us--that gives us a sense of satisfaction. Second, we're trying to entertain other people. They don't care so much about the process of writing and whether we find it meaningful. They just want a good story.It is possible to attain both goals at the same time but it takes some thought. You have to find a story interesting to you that will also be interesting to lots of other people. It's worth taking considerable time to figure out such a story because you're going to be working on it for quite a while. Good luck!

This is a long-haul business. Success lies in longevity, which is hard to pull off if you hate what you're doing.

So much this. I do know big authors who've burnt out.

You can build a successful career out of quirky books, but it takes longer. You don't really have enough books to say if your fan-romances will take off. Posted below is the sales rank for Monsters, the second book in my first series, the series that incidentally makes me the bulk of my income. As you can see, it had some rough days at the beginning!

It has done better overtime (just had a sale on a box set with it in it, so it may sink for a bit now ... and that's okay. These things are cyclical.)

You might want to try changing the covers (or tweaking them) and do a small promotion. The two contemporary books in my signature had different covers. I changed them and did a promo and they sold some but they still languish in obscurity. I also toyed with the pitches and didn't really see a difference with regards to sales or borrows.

I'm going to update the covers again, if I ever finish book 3! Actually I have another series I'm working on and then I'll go back and finish book 3.

Since I only write what I want, my heart goes out to OP and the thousands of others who must wrestle with her issue.

The "market" is often assumed to be the equivalent of "genre". That's a misleading fallacy. The audiences for written entertainment are much more diverse than the rigid, necessarily simplistic genres. Genres evolved with commercial writing and publishing. With the era of digital publishing and distribution platforms, the genres have become an un-administrable mish-mash of topics.

There are readers out there, online, for any theme or orientation or POV. The new tools for audience aggregation and targeting are amazing, truly, and that's coming from one who has built search engines. Authors who feel they must compromise if they expect to make a viable small self-publishing business now have the ability to assemble their own niche market if they're willing to invest the time it takes to master these new tools. It's not so complicated or intimidating as it will seem to many. Wayne Stinnett writes to a widely-accepted "market". But what most don't realize is that smart Wayne has also created his very own niche market, in the form of his mailing list.

What RBN and others say about persistence applies, of course.

What I'll add is that you can, with work, an open mind, and the help of other KBoarders, find a way to build and then write to your own "followers", as opposed to "the market" however the Zon and the Big Five decide to define it.

Can I just say though, that this wasn't supposed to be a 'what am I doing wrong thread'. I am learning as I go, and I do take on board everything I have read and will be mulling things over. I am also really grateful that people support to write what you love and I cling to the hope that I will find *my* market.

As I said, others were suggesting to me to write to market for a few projects to fund what I want to write and I was struggling with it. Really, I just wanted to know about people who write to market, why do they do it, and do they enjoy it? Is it a money thing that motivates them or something else?

There are readers out there, online, for any theme or orientation or POV. The new tools for audience aggregation and targeting are amazing, truly, and that's coming from one who has built search engines. Authors who feel they must compromise if they expect to make a viable small self-publishing business now have the ability to assemble their own niche market if they're willing to invest the time it takes to master these new tools. It's not so complicated or intimidating as it will seem to many. Wayne Stinnett writes to a widely-accepted "market". But what most don't realize is that smart Wayne has also created his very own niche market, in the form of his mailing list.

What RBN and others say about persistence applies, of course.

What I'll add is that you can, with work, an open mind, and the help of other KBoarders, find a way to build and then write to your own "followers", as opposed to "the market" however the Zon and the Big Five decide to define it.

Really, I just wanted to know about people who write to market, why do they do it, and do they enjoy it? Is it a money thing that motivates them or something else?

But thank you everyone

As for me, I like to write stories, and I like urban fantasy, so surprise, I write urban fantasy stories. You seem to have the idea that writing to market has to be painful or at least drudgery. When I wrote my first urban fantasy series, I assumed it would be interesting to only a small niche of people. I had a blast writing the stories, and it turned out that I was wrong about their marketability. I still don't know why folks read that series, but I'm happy they do. I'm happy it pays, as well. The trick is to find a niche you like to write that other like to read. Then everybody's happy.

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